The Shadow of the Death Knight Prince
by TheHttydRaven
Summary: The Light may have abandoned him, but Anduin was far from powerless.


Honestly there is so many differing views on whether DKs are alive/dead or were alive/dead when they were turned, so I'm just going with what I believe.

Give me criticism on my writing if you want, but please don't criticize my displaying of the lore or minor mistakes with the lore I might make. I honestly don't care, as writing these fics make me happy and that's all that matters.

-0-0-

Anduin sat upon the side of his bed, the room softly lit only by the bright blue glow cast by the Death Knights eyes.

The prince stared down at his gloved hands which were resting upon his knees.

Raising a hand, Anduin thought about summoning a ball of Light. Narrowing his eyes as he concentrated upon the task he had set himself, he reached deep inside himself to summon the powers of the Light that had always rested deep without in his soul.

Only to grasp at emptiness, his outstretched hand slowly falling to his lap once again, empty.

Ever since he had risen as a Death Knight, Anduin's connection to the Light had been... absent, the comforting presence that had accompanied the Prince throughout his life suddenly silent.

Anduin knew of Death Knights that had returned to the act of healing once they had broken free of their corrupted master's reign. While their grasp on the Light was weaker than it once was, they could still summon it. Unlike Anduin.

So it wasn't that the Light had abandoned him.

No, it was rather the other way around.

Anduin had abandoned the Light.

He had lost his faith.

The Light had let him fall in battle, let him breathe his last breaths in painful agony as he tried to heal his wounds but failed. It was the _dark_ powers of the Lich King that had risen him from his death, returning air to his lungs and allowing him to breathe once more.

Anduin cast a thoughtful look at his gloved hand, which had failed to call forth the Light, before slowly pushing himself off his bed and onto his feet, before swiftly moving across the room and exiting his chambers.

The library had few texts on the practice of controlling Shadow, but as Anduin stood in the dark shadows of the rear shelves, too isolated to be lit by the lanterns placed periodically along the walls, he could see that the book held in his hands would be the key to unlocking the dark powers of Shadow.

Snapping the book shut, Anduin tucked it neatly underneath his cloak before moving back into the light, nodding a thanks to the librarian who had glanced at him as he walked past, before exiting the library and heading back to his room, cloak wrapped tightly around him in an attempt to keep out the bone-deep chill that permeated his being. But nothing made him warm anymore.

Anduin's lips quirked downwards as his eyebrows drew together, his eyes drifting to gaze at the floor as his mind filled with memories of the past. Memories from when he was... _normal._

The Death Knight was making his way past the throne room when a figure cut him off. Citizens and travelers seeking an audience with the king of Stormwind - and the Alliance - were no oddity, but something about this particular person rubbed Anduin the wrong way, the Death Knights eyes trailing the cloaked man as he slipped into the line of persons seeking an audience with Anduins father that trailed out the throne room doors. As Anduin hesitated, he decided to slip into the throne room and keep an eye on the suspicion stranger. If nothing happened, it would set his uneasy mind at ease, and if something happened Anduin would be there to stop it.

Anduin slipped through the door and neatly swept into the shadows that lined the far wall, inserting himself between two soldiers, who did nothing to acknowledge his presence other than shifting a few steps away from him to allow Anduin a few feet of personal space.

Or they just wanted to be further away from the unnatural prince.

Anduin watched as people filtered through the throne room, Varian resting a tired chin on a gloved hand as the day grew older and older.

He had begun to doubt his previous paranoia. Maybe he was just overreacting. Possibly his time spent with the Lich King had twisted and corrupted his previously optimistic and trusting mind. Maybe he was wrong.

Or maybe...

Anduin tensed as he heard a sound beneath the commotion and bustle of the throne room and immediately recognized it as the soft 'shnk' of a blade being quietly unsheathed. Anduin strode from the shadows as his eyes locked onto the form of the cloaked man from earlier, who was beginning to stride towards Varian, the king being distracted by a serving-girl who was standing beside the throne, presumably whispering a message in his ear.

Anduin's eyes narrowed. The Light would not help him prevent what was about to happen, but...

Light could not exist without darkness. And Anduin would be the darkness that will bring forth the light.

Anduin stretched out a hand as the cloaked man withdrew his arm from the shadows of his clothing, a wicked and notched blade clutched in his hand, the edges coated in a bright yellow liquid, most likely poison.

"Father!"

Anduin felt the power surge through him, rage taking over his mind.

With the Light, Anduin was just an instrument, a simple vessel for the Light to channel its healing magics through. But with Shadow - his very being surged with power as he orchestrated the magic. He was Shadow.

Anduin was no vessel, no, he controlled the very Shadow itself, the dark magic bending and twisting to his control as Anduin was lifted from the floor, a dark purple mist developing around him as writhing tentacles constructed of pure shadow faded into existence. The writhing limbs wrapped around the form of the assassin, the wide-eyed man crying out in shock as his limbs were restrained, the knife being wrenched from his grasp, Anduin grabbing it and tightening his ruthless grip upon the hilt as he towered over the terrified soul upon the floor, blackened eyes staring down at the man.

"Please, please-"

Anduin carelessly flicked his hand, the small motion prompting the man's mouth to be covered, effectively silencing his pleas.

"..duin-"

Anduin jerked as a hand landed on his arm, the Death Knight whirling, an orb of swirling and dark mist forming in his hand, ready to defend himself against... his father.

"Anduin?" Varian repeated himself, the king resting his hands gently upon Anduin's shoulders, the prince stepping back in shock as the blackness of his eyes faded, gaze sweeping around the room to see civilians huddled against the far wall, fear in their eyes as a like of soldiers stood between them - _protected them _\- from Anduin.

Anduin's gaze swiveled back to the man on the floor, who had ceased his struggles, unmoving besides the occasional twitch or movement of his widened eyes. His _terrified _eyes.

What did Anduin _do_?

The Death Knight stumbled back, roughly knocking his father's hands from him as he did. Anduin flicked a hand, dismissing the tendrils that wrapped around the assassin, which left painful-looking marks upon the man's skin as they disappeared, before turning and running from the room, horror and self-loathing taking root deep within his chill heart, ears deaf to the sound of his father calling his name.

As he ran, Anduin noticed the guards shift backward against the citizens, hands tightening upon their weapons, as if he was a threat. A _monster._

Well...

He was.

-0-0-

Yay Anduin is gonna be accepted!

Haha sike.


End file.
